Decorating RAMS: a complete guide for UK painters and decorators (2026)

Why painters and decorators need a RAMS

A RAMS is a Risk Assessment and Method Statement combined into one document. For painting and decorating work it is the document that proves you have thought through the access, the old paint, the fumes and the dust before the first brush is loaded.

Decorating is widely seen as one of the safest trades, and that perception is exactly what catches people out. Falls from ladders are common and serious, sanding or burning off old paint in a period building can release lead, and solvents and strippers build up fumes in the enclosed rooms decorators spend their days in. A main contractor or commercial client will still ask for your RAMS before you start.

If you are a sole-trader decorator on small domestic jobs, you are not always legally required to produce a formal written RAMS for every room. But on any commercial site, new build, refurbishment, or work running under a principal contractor and CDM 2015, a written RAMS is expected and usually mandatory before you can start.

Who asks for a decorating RAMS?

The people who will want to see it include main contractors and principal contractors, facilities managers in commercial and public buildings, housing associations and local authorities, letting and managing agents, and any project manager running several trades at once. A clear, trade-specific RAMS keeps your team safe and gets you through the approval gate without delay.

The hazards a decorating RAMS must cover

A generic RAMS will not pass a competent contractor's check, because it will not address the hazards that are specific to decorating. These are the ones that matter.

Working at height

Ladders and stepladders are the most-used access in decorating, and falls from them are the trade's most common serious accident, alongside towers and access for stairwells, high ceilings and exteriors. Working at height is governed by the Work at Height Regulations 2005.

Your RAMS should match the access to the task: stepladders and ladders only for light, short-duration work with secure footing and three points of contact, and podium steps, towers or a scaffold for longer work or stairwells. "A ladder will be used" is not enough; the assessor wants to see the access matched to the job, the duration, and the surface it stands on.

Lead paint in older buildings

Paint in buildings from before 1992, and especially before the 1960s, can contain lead. Sanding, scraping or burning off old paint releases lead dust and fume, which causes lead poisoning. This is the hazard most specific to decorating old buildings, and it is governed by the Control of Lead at Work Regulations. The HSE's guidance on lead sets the standard.

Your RAMS should state that before sanding or burning off old paint in a pre-1992 building you will check for lead, that you will use controlled methods that limit dust and fume rather than dry sanding or burning lead paint, and the RPE, hygiene and waste controls that go with it. Showing you understand the lead risk in an old building reassures an assessor more than almost anything else.

Solvents, paint fumes and isocyanates

Oil-based paints, solvents, thinners and strippers give off vapour that builds up in enclosed rooms, causing headaches and worse, and some are flammable. Two-pack and spray finishes can contain isocyanates, which are powerful asthma sensitisers. All of this falls under the COSHH Regulations. Your RAMS should set out ventilation of the work area, control of ignition sources for flammable products, the safety data sheets, and the gloves and respiratory protection needed - with particular care and the right RPE for any isocyanate or spray work.

Sanding dust and chemical strippers

Sanding fillers, old paint and walls creates dust, which can include silica from plaster and filler. Your RAMS should set out dust-extracting sanders and RPE rather than dry hand-sanding. Caustic and solvent chemical paint strippers cause burns and give off fumes, so they belong in the COSHH assessment with gloves, eye protection and ventilation.

Hot-air stripping and fire

Hot-air guns and blowtorches used to strip paint introduce fire risk, and burning off old paint can release lead fume as well. Your RAMS should cover the hot-works controls - keeping combustibles clear, an extinguisher to hand, a fire watch where needed - and should avoid burning off paint that may contain lead in favour of safer methods.

Occupied spaces, slips and manual handling

Decorating often happens in occupied homes and offices, so the RAMS should manage fumes affecting occupants, keep the public clear of access equipment and wet paint, and ventilate the space. Dust sheets, trailing leads and spilled paint cause slips and trips, and paint tins and equipment bring some manual handling. These belong in the document too.

A worked example: RAMS for repainting an occupied period property

It helps to see how the hazards turn into an actual method statement. Take a common job: repainting the hallway, stairwell and landing of an occupied Victorian house, including rubbing down old paintwork, with the family still living there. Here is how a sound RAMS would walk through it.

Before work starts

The RAMS records that, given the property age, the existing paint has been checked for lead before any rubbing down or stripping, with a controlled method chosen over dry sanding or burning off if lead is present. It confirms the access for the stairwell - a proper stairwell platform or tower rather than a ladder balanced on the stairs - and that the occupants have been told which areas are out of use and that ventilation will be needed.

Sequence of work and controls

Set up: protect floors and the stair route, isolate the work area from the occupied house, and keep occupants and pets clear. Check the paint: confirm the lead position before disturbing old paintwork. Rub down: use a dust-extracting sander with RPE, never dry-sanding suspect lead paint, with controlled methods and waste collection if lead is present. Access the stairwell: use a stairwell platform or tower with the correct footing, never a ladder perched on a step. Prepare and fill: fill and sand with dust control. Paint: apply paint with the room ventilated, gloves and skin protection, ignition sources controlled for any solvent product, managing trailing leads and dust sheets against slips. Occupant safety: keep ventilation going and the public clear of wet paint and access throughout. Clear up: remove waste safely, store paint and solvents securely, and hand back with the rooms ventilated.

Why this reads as competent

The assessor sees the lead question settled before old paint is touched, the stairwell given proper access rather than a balanced ladder, fumes and dust controlled, and the occupied-house risk managed. That is the difference between a RAMS for this job and a template with the name changed.

What we see go wrong on decorating jobs (and why the corners get cut)

The guidance above is the standard. This part is what we have actually watched happen on site. We run a scaffolding firm and we have been around a lot of decorating work, and the honest pattern is this: decorating gets treated as the safe, tidy trade, so it is the one where people cut corners to save a bit of time or money - and that is exactly when it bites.

Old paint is the one people gamble with. We have seen decorators stripping and sanding old paint with no mask and no goggles, flakes going everywhere, near their eyes and mouth. On a pre-1992 building, and especially anything older, that old paint can contain lead, and breathing the dust or fume is how you get poisoned. The people doing it were not being reckless for the sake of it - they were saving the cost and the hassle of the protection. It is a bad trade: a few pounds of RPE against your health. A decorating RAMS for any older building should require a lead check before paint is disturbed and proper RPE if it is, not leave it to whoever is holding the scraper.

The access is where the real danger is. This is our trade, so we notice it more than most. The things we have seen decorators stand on to reach the work would make your eyes water: a step ladder used until it collapsed, a chair with a ladder balanced on top of it as a homemade scaffold, a ladder leaned against a lamp post to reach the top of a house. Every one of those is someone improvising access to save the time or cost of doing it properly. Working at height is the biggest killer in decorating, and the RAMS has to set out proper, stable access for the job - a tower, a podium, a scaffold for a stairwell or a full elevation - not leave the decorator to invent something on the day.

Even the "safe" tools can put someone in hospital. We saw a steam wallpaper stripper where the hose burst in use, and the operative was scalded badly enough on the legs to need a hospital trip. A wallpaper stripper does not feel like a dangerous bit of kit, which is exactly why nobody thinks about the hot water and steam under pressure inside it. The point is not that strippers are lethal - it is that the routine, low-key parts of a job are where people drop their guard, and the RAMS should cover the equipment actually being used rather than only the obvious hazards.

The honest summary: decorating is not a low-risk trade, it just looks like one, and that appearance is what gets people hurt. The corners we see cut - the missing mask on old paint, the improvised access, the tool nobody worried about - are nearly always about saving a little money or time. A RAMS that names the real risks and sets out proper PPE and proper access is what stops a tidy job turning into a hospital visit.

A pre-work checklist for decorating RAMS

Before you submit a decorating RAMS, or before the team starts on site, run through a short check. A RAMS that can answer yes to these is one that will pass and, more importantly, keep people safe.

• Lead checked - for any pre-1992 building, is old paint checked for lead before sanding or burning off, with controlled methods if present?
• Access matched - is the access matched to the task and duration, with proper platforms for stairwells rather than a balanced ladder?
• Fumes controlled - is ventilation set out for solvents and paints, with control of ignition sources for flammable products?
• Isocyanates - for any two-pack or spray work, are the sensitiser risks managed with the correct RPE?
• Sanding dust - are dust-extracting sanders and RPE specified rather than dry hand-sanding?
• Strippers - are caustic and solvent strippers covered with gloves, eye protection and ventilation?
• Hot stripping - if a hot-air gun is used, are fire controls set out, and is burning off lead paint avoided?
• Occupants and slips - if the space is occupied, are ventilation, public protection and slips from sheets and leads addressed?

Common reasons a decorating RAMS gets rejected

Knowing why documents get sent back is the fastest way to write one that does not. These are the failings an assessor sees most often on decorating RAMS.

Lead in old paint is ignored. The most common serious failing - a RAMS for rubbing down or stripping paint in a pre-1992 building with no mention of checking for lead. Given the poisoning risk, this gets rejected.

Access at height is vague. "A ladder will be used" for a stairwell or long-duration high work, with no proper platform, overlooks the trade's most common serious accident.

Fumes are not controlled. Using solvents, oil paints or strippers in an enclosed room with no ventilation plan overlooks a real health risk, and isocyanate work with the wrong RPE is worse.

It is obviously generic. A template that does not name the actual work - interior or exterior, new or repaint, the building age, spray or brush - is a frequent rejection.

Occupants are forgotten. Decorating an occupied home or office with no mention of fumes affecting occupants or keeping people clear overlooks who else is in the building.

How to write a decorating RAMS that passes

A RAMS that gets approved first time shares a few features whatever the trade.

Make it specific to the job

The fastest way to get a RAMS rejected is to submit something obviously generic. Name the site, whether it is interior or exterior, new work or a repaint, the building age, the preparation involved, and the access. An assessor can tell within seconds whether the document describes this job or is a template with the name changed.

Follow the sequence of work

The method statement should walk through the job in order: checking for lead, setting up access and protection, preparation and rubbing down, filling, painting, and clearing up. Each stage links to the hazards it creates and the controls that manage them.

Rate the risks honestly

The risk assessment side rates each hazard by likelihood and severity, then again after your controls are in place. This residual-risk approach follows HSE's risk assessment guidance and is what a competent assessor expects, with working at height and lead rated seriously.

Keep it readable

The people who need to follow a RAMS are the decorators on site, not just the assessor. Plain language, a clear sequence and a short list of real controls beat pages of boilerplate nobody reads.

Doing it the fast way

Writing a full decorating RAMS by hand for every job is exactly the paperwork that eats evenings. That is the problem Complys was built to solve: answer a few questions about the job and the trade, and it generates a complete, decorating-specific risk assessment and method statement you can edit, download and share. The hazards above - working at height, lead paint, fumes, sanding dust, hot stripping - come built into the templates, so you start from a document that already knows the trade rather than a blank page.

If you want the wider picture first, our guide to what a RAMS is and how to write one covers the fundamentals, and the difference between a RAMS and a risk assessment clears up the most common confusion. You can also see every trade we cover on the RAMS builder hub.

However you produce it, the goal is the same: a RAMS that keeps your team safe, gets you onto site without delay, and stands up when a contractor checks it.